1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of treating citrus fruits. More particularly, it relates to a technique for minimizing or removing the bitterness of citrous fruit juice with high bitterness, thereby providing citrous fruit beverages that are pleasant to the taste.
2. Prior Art
With the recent spread of vending machines, fruit juice has been consumed in large quantities. In addition, the diversified consumers' tastes and the general tendency to like healthy and high grade foods have been increasing the demand for beverages containing or composed only of naturl fruit juice instead of conventional drinks containing no fruit juice.
However, some of these natural fruit juice, especially juice of citrus fruits, have strong bitterness, which naturally limits their demand.
To overcome this problem, citrus fruits with strong bitterness are treated in various ways to remove the bitterness. One simple method is to mask the bitter taste by using a large amount of a sweetener or a souring agent. Also known are industrial processes: a method of including bitter components with .beta.-cyclodextrin (Fragrance Journal, No. 63, 73-79, 1983 ); a method of adsorbing bitter components with a resin or activated charcoal; and a method of degrading naringin (one of bitter components) by the action of an enzyme, such as naringinase.